Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

Story: 🌟🌟
Narration: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟

Story:
I loved Baker’s previous novel, The Whisper Network, and I couldn’t wait to read her newest. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this one as much. The Husbands took a while to really gain speed. The first three hours alone were spent reading about the various fights the main character, Nora, and her husband were having due to their lack of communication and difficulty sharing responsibilities. I understand these issues can be repetitive in real life, but they were also very repetitive to read and slowed the pacing. I enjoyed the Stepford Wives vibes that the suburban plot had and wished it would have come together sooner. Overall, this one had a lot of potential, but it did not capitalize on a fun premise.

Narration:
Allyson Ryan does well with the narration for Nora. The audio quality was very hard to listen to due to the the program I listened on having an echo that distorts the sound. However, her performance was great and I definitely would prefer the audio vs. the physical copy.

ALC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What an interesting concept for a book! I loved this idea that Chandler Baker had of an idyllic world where the husbands did their fair share and the wives didn’t feel all the burdens of running a household. However, as the story unfolds you realize there is something very sinister going on. Welcome to Dynasty Ranch, a housing development in a good neighborhood where everything looks perfect on the outside. I loved listening to the audio of this book. The narrator was good and kept the story at a good flow. Nora Spangler and her husband Hayden are searching for a new home when they find a listing in Dynasty Ranch. Nora immediately wants to get the house but Hayden is hesitant. When she gets asked to represent Penny March in her wrongful death lawsuit, the mystery begins of how her husband died. I loved the way the story unfolded and the buildup to the ending was slow, but in a good way because it kept me guessing until the end. Wickedly funny, with a cast of powerful women characters, this would make a great movie or TV series. Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan audio for the advanced audio copy!

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC

Ick. That is how I would describe this. This book DRAGGED and also felt stale. Think Stepford Wives meets Get Out. It did not feel new or fresh and I felt like you could see things coming a mile away. The only thing I really liked was the last page. I would not recommend. There’s lots of things to do with your time

I found this book to be very slow with to much internal dialogue. Nora had her head in the sand for most of the story. I wish the plot was stronger because the author brought up many good points for male/female gender role disparity in the home.

The Stepford Wives meets Get Out the feminist version.

“Just one more page” A witty and humorous domestic mystery. Even though this slow burn mystery is a bit predictable, it didn’t take way from the story and was well executed.

Chandler Baker has written a very relatable book for all working moms. Baker acknowledges the struggles of working mother’s in today’s world with humor. She also touches on family life, relationships and girlfriend friendships.

I can totally see this book being a buddy read or a book club book, there is so much to discuss.

The narrator was great! Thank you @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for the ARC of this audiobook in exchange for the honest review.

Stepford Husbands.
In this switcheroo, it’s the wives who figure out how to get the perfect spouse. They cook, they clean, they take care of the kids, and they do it all with a smile. It’s filled with cliches (which, let’s face it, are cliches for a reason) and is pretty predictable, but it’s still fun in a “wishful thinking” kind of way.
Thanks to #netgalley and #macmillan for this ARC of #thehusbands in exchange for an honest review.

Nora Spangler is an attorney: pregnant with her second child, working all the time, juggling domestic responsibilities and exhausted. Her husband, Hayden, helps a bit but never really seems to take any initiative.

With a second baby on the way, the Spanglers need a bigger home. House hunting takes them to Dynasty Ranch, an exclusive suburban neighbourhood, just outside Austin, Texas, where Nora meets a group of very successful women whose husbands seem incredibly supportive. So, what is different about Dynasty Ranch?

Wanting to be accepted, as there is an approval process for intending residents, Nora agrees to help one of the women with a wrongful death case. The more time Nora spends with the women of Dynasty Ranch the more impressed she is. Hayden may help her a bit, but the husbands at Dynasty Ranch amazing. They seem to have picked up all the domestic responsibilities without complaint. How did this happen?

There are a few twists, but the grass isn't always greener.

Alright so the premise absolutely had me here. A feminist Stepford wives twist! Sold 👩‍⚖️ to the career woman in the front row.

In actuality this mostly missed the mark for me, but I’m still glad I picked it up. The pacing was so horrific I almost put down the book a few times then the action at the end had me rapt and the resolution was … concerning? I was all over the place!

There’s a point in the book where a feminist psychologist talks about how the books on her shelf aren’t doing any good because the men will never read them. So I know the author gets this, but you know who doesn’t need to hear 80% of the chapters in this book talking about all of the invisible work a career mom has to do to keep a family afloat. I’ll tell you! It’s all the feminists that will pick up this book. 😂 Also let’s ask a single mom working two jobs to listen to the MC complain more than once about how her husband keeps telling her they can afford to hire more help.

Okay so rant over, and I did actually enjoy several parts of this book. I’m super excited it will be a show because I feel like there’s a lot to be done with the creative storyline itself. I mean the story itself is actually fire.

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for the ALC in exchange for the honest review! I really am glad I got to read it!

The Husbands by Chandler Baker ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ok I have to admit, I was really disappointed in this book. The book description gave me all the feels of The Stepford Wives, so I was super excited to jump right in. It. Fell. Flat. The main character was in a lot of ways super relatable, and there were times I laughed out loud while reading. However, the book felt very disjointed and honestly gave no real feelings of intensity until the last 10% of the book, and even then it fell short. The overall idea was really good, it was just executed really poorly. I kept waiting to get sucked in, to have that feeling of wanting to see what was going to happen next. I wanted mystery and the thrill factor that it promised. Unfortunately, it never happened. I did listen to this book in audio form, and the reader did do an excellent job - 5 stars to her.

#macmillanpublishers #macmillanpublishing #macmillanaudio #netgalley

Thanks to Macmillian Audio for an advanced audio copy of The Husbands by Chandler Baker.!

Where do you start with a book like this? I enjoyed listening to this and while it was a new narrator for me, she had me hooked to the book and I didn't want to stop listening. I really think she helped make this book!

While I easily figured out what was happening, but it didn't take away from my enjoyment!

As I sat in my car for my hour and a half commute, gripping the steering wheel in traffic, desperate to get home on time before my toddler went to bed, I found myself listening to this audiobook thinking, "lobotomized, chore-accomplishing husbands really might not be the worst idea..." Overall, this was a fun concept and interesting semi-mystery, although I think any reader/listener would catch on to the motives of the Dynasty Ranch Welcoming Committee a little faster than our stressed-out narrator. I did wish there was more background on the periphery households and how they ended up in the community. In addition, I think a more sci-fi approach rather than a community drama would have served this book well, especially in the end where the pacing started to get bogged down by personal narration. As for the audiobook narration, maybe it's the native New Yorker in me, but I found the reader extremely slow; I usually bump up my listening speed to 1.5 but found myself closer to a 2x speed for this one. However, this is an interesting concept and, although I would recommend it to all of the overworked women of the world, I think men should be reading this one to really get an idea of just how much invisible work women accomplish every day!

I downloaded this audiobook but it kept skipping chapters. I retried several times and I am not able to listen to it. I have played your audiobooks and others form audible with no problems, so there is some problem with this copy and it's not working for me.

I will obviously not rate or review this title.

Thank you for the opportunity and I'm sorry I was not able to listen to it.

As a Texas attorney and mother, I initially bonded with the main character, Nora. I remember when my kids were young and trying to do it all and falling short. Women can be the toughest on each other when everyone just needs support. As the story progresses Dynasty Ranch starts to look like a Stepford husband sort of situation. I would have liked the book more if it had dragged on in the second half, but it was still quite entertaining!

I feel like Chandler Baker hates men and is extremely critical of women. This is VERY difficult to read and I had to DNF it. Thank you for my ALC.

I really enjoyed this one. It may have been a little slower than I expected, but the narrator was great and helped it along. I didn’t love that it made all men seem useless in normal life, but overall a good book.

Thank you to NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Nora is struggling to balance life as a working mother. She struggles with the balance of a work-life, and home life. As a lawyer, the hours are long, and she hopes to be considered for partner in her firm.

While house hunting with her husband, Nora's interest peaks when she finds a home in Dynasty Ranch where all the wives are successful in their professions, mothers, and willing to stop at nothing to get ahead-but how far will the women of Dynasty Ranch go to make sure their husbands are dutiful and taking care of their suburban lives?

This book was overall entertaining and well-executed.

This is an excellent book club pick that I'm sure will be one of the most buzzed-about books of the summer.

WHAT I LIKED
- The writing was snappy and reflective. I loved it!
- The themes were highly relatable. The mental load of motherhood is unbearable at times, and I've never read a work of fiction that so pi accurately depicted the invisible work that women are often responsible for.

WHAT DIDN'T WORK FOR ME
- Unfortunately, the pacing of the story was off. The first 75% of the story felt repetitive, with variations of the same marital/societal conflicts described in each chapter. The ending was incredible (!), but I almost didn't make it that far because of the predictability and lack of plot development throughout most of the book.

🎧 The audiobook voice actor was extremely talented! Her narration was clear and emotive. I listened at 1.5x speed.

First, a disclaimer: I received this audiobook in advance of publication in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own opinions. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this book.

I am not sure how to review this book. Since there are strong feminist themes, I feel like I have to be extra critical of anything that I disliked about the book. So, I will start with what I liked. I enjoyed the mystery-thriller storyline. That “weirdness” was just awesome. I also could often relate to the struggles that Nora had at work and with balancing work and home life. The pacing was terrific. I love a slow-burn thriller and I loved being inside of Nora’s head. Now what I disliked… I felt like this was a pretty narrow view of feminism. Really, only married women with children that have a certain income will relate to this particular story. Single mothers and lower income families often have a different set of circumstances to navigate. And what about women who choose not to have kids? Or trans and non-binary women and their struggles at home and at workl? I also felt that it often came off as whiny rather than as descriptive of a very real and difficult situation for a lot of women. It kinda gave off “Karen” vibes at points. And lastly, there are things that have me a little concerned about how women are portrayed that I won’t go into so as not to spoil the story for anyone. I read The Whisper Network last year and I think I liked that book more than this one, but this was not a BAD book by any means. I was engaged in the story throughout. I actually couldn’t put the book down. I listed to it on audio and the audio was terrific. I just wish it had been a little more inclusive of how a work-life balance works for all women. The concerns that were brought up ARE valid… but I think the issue goes a bit deeper.

CAWPILE Score: 40
Star Rating: 3
Pages: 352
Read on Audiobook

5 STARS!!!!!!

I feel like there are a lot of women that can relate to the protagonist, Nora. She is married with a toddler, pregnant with a second child, and is constantly juggling her domestic responsibilities with her work responsibilities. Sadly, she can't help but feel as though she is doing this all alone despite being married. Nora loves her husband....she just wants him to help her. While shopping for a house, Nora and her husband find a community filled with seemingly happily married couples. The women of all of the couples have very successful careers and the men are supportive (almost TOO supportive) of their wives. As Nora and her husband begin the rigorous process to apply to live in the community, they begin to realize that something is just not right and that this wonderful little community has a secret past.

5 Stepford husband stars!

Special thanks the MacMillan Audio and Netgalley for gifting me with this free audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4.5/5
Expected Publication: August 3, 2021

I immediately pre-ordered this book before I even finished it! I cannot express how well written this book is!! Chandler Baker did an amazing job at pulling me in, and making me not know what to believe throughout this whole story. It was so interesting, but at the same time frustratingly good! I was mainly frustrated because I wanted to know what the heck was happening in that neighborhood! It had my attention from the first minute until the last. I haven’t been this addicted to a thriller in a very long time.

Nora is struggling to balance being a good mother, wife, and successful lawyer. She loves her husband, but it feels like he’s not doing as much as her when it comes to life at home. While house hunting, Nora meets a group of very successful, high-powered women. They ask her to take part in a wrongful death case, but once she agrees, she’s pulled into the lives of the residents of Dynasty Ranch. Nora notices their families are a little too perfect, and wonders how they keep their lives that way. As she dives into the case, she uncovers secrets that were meant to be hidden by the neighborhood residents.

The people of Dynasty Ranch seemed so perfect and put together in the beginning. It was interesting to listen to how everything was uncovered while also seeing Nora deal with issues that arose in her life. She went through struggles everyday when it came to balancing being a good mother while also meeting her boss's expectations. This represented the struggles women go through everyday, and how there’s difficult and high expectations for working mothers. Overall, I really enjoyed this book! I definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for a good feminist thriller!!